1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a dimpled golf ball featuring aerodynamic isotropy, excellent flight performance and consistent carry and a method of forming dimples on a golf ball.
2. Background Art
In the traditional golf ball art, when dimples are distributed on the outer surface of a golf ball, spherical polyhedral arrangements, typically spherical octahedral and spherical icosahedral and random arrangements have been utilized from the standpoint of uniform arrangement, as referred to U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,876. A typical arrangement process involves dividing a spherical surface into regular polyhedral faces to define unit triangles, disposing dimples in each unit triangle in good balance, and assigning the unit triangles to the eight divided faces on the spherical surface in the case of a regular octahedron, for example. Such dimple arrangements facilitate the design of dimples and the manufacture of a golf ball manufacturing mold and are effective for providing better aerodynamic properties.
However, the dimple arrangement tends to lack continuity at or in proximity to those areas corresponding to the sides where unit triangles are joined together and an equatorial area in register with the parting plane of a golf ball mold. A golf ball lacking continuity or balance in its dimple arrangement can develop different aerodynamic properties depending on the position of a spinning axis, and thus travel a varying distance depending on the point of impact on the ball. Specifically, the golf ball when hit develops different aerodynamic properties and different spin rates, depending on whether the golf ball spins parallel to the side of a unit triangle or the equator of the ball or spins at a certain angle with respect to the unit triangle side or the equator. Then the trajectory of the ball is subject to variations in vertical and horizontal directions, resulting in variations of carry and direction.
While improvements in aerodynamic properties are requisite for a golf ball to exert favorable flight performance, it is believed that the optimization of dimple arrangement reduces the variation during flight and improves the aerodynamic performance.
There exists a demand for a golf ball which when hit, exhibits improved aerodynamic properties and minimized variations of carry and direction independent of the spinning axis.